Bad Decisions
by Armads the Doom Bringer
Summary: We all fall into a funk sometimes. Anko's has lasted longer than normal and people are starting to get worried. Perhaps all she needs is someone dedicated to help pull her out of it.
1. Chapter 1

Tick. Tock.

The sound of the clock against the wall was the only sound in Anko Mitarashi's lonely room. For days she had laid there, barely getting out of bed save to eat or relieve herself. She simply had no motivation to do anything else. Admittedly this was her own fault, but Anko wouldn't admit that. She refused to admit that the fact that she hadn't left caused her to feel even worse.

Anko knew that she could walk out and do something, anything, but ever since her last random romantic fling had failed, she had felt the desire to go out and move on missing. What was the point? How many men had she half-heartedly pursued in an attempt to get free food or comfort between missions?

Too many. Far too many for her. It didn't help that many of those men had later died on mission, a risk that came with the job of being a ninja. Then again if they died it must have meant that they weren't strong enough for her. Strength had always been a turn on for her; no one weaker than her would do. As hard as it was to admit, she was a snake at heart; venomous and deadly to all who tried to get close to her.

And then, a knock at her door pulled Anko out of her thoughts and back into the real world. At first she ignored it; the person would probably go away before long. The others who had come before did. They'd assume she wasn't home, or that she was on a mission, or even that she was asleep. No one who cared enough to try and get in to see if she was alright came to mind.

This time however the knocking didn't stop. Anko threw a pillow over her head, trying to ignore it. Minutes went by and still the knocking didn't stop. Finally, in frustration, Anko jumped to her feet and stormed over to the door. Oh, whoever decided to bother her while she was in the middle of her moping was going to get it.

She threw open the door, fully prepared to unleash her wrath upon the person there to the fullest extent possible. Instead, what she was met with stunned her into pacification. Her brain reeled trying to comprehend what it was seeing and trying to comprehend why she was seeing it.

What Anko was faced with was a younger male with messy brown hair, sharp black eyes, sharp teeth and a large dog sitting next to him. Oddly enough, both the dog and the boy were blushing furiously and looking positively dumbstruck.

The next thirty seconds dragged on for Anko like they were years. She desperately tried to force herself to stop staring blankly at the man, she certainly wasn't making herself look good. "Er... hello. Can I help you?"

The man's mouth worked, the blush never leaving his face. Sweat beaded on his forehead, his eye twitched, and he didn't seem to be on earth anymore. The dog wasn't much better, its mouth was agape and its tongue hung out to one side.

A frown crossed Anko's face; she had been brought out of her funk for this? That was just unacceptable. She leaned forward, getting right in the man's face. "Hello! Anyone in there?"

Suddenly he jumped back, horribly flustered. "Gah! Don't do that!"

Anko's eye twitched as anger welled up in her. She took a step forward, pressing a finger into the man's headband. "Don't do what? You showed up on my door unannounced and then proceed to waste my time! Get on with it!"

The man batted her finger away. "Fine! I'm here because Kurenai-sensei told me to come and check up on you! She was worried, but I see that there wasn't much of reason for that!" He tried to look her in the eye for a few seconds, obviously trying to stare her down and try to look tough. But then his eyes wavered and began lowering.

Great, now he was trying to ogle at her and he wasn't even being subtle about it! Her anger only fueled further by this display of disrespect, she had half a mind to deck him one. But the cooler half of her mind prevailed, and she settled for grabbing his chin and forcing him to look her in the eyes. "Hey! I'm up here!"

The boy's face was a mix between anger and that sort of uncomfortable arousal that stunk of someone who caught a woman bathing. "Well.. you see..."

"What? What is it? Spit it out Inuzuka!"

"You're not wearing any pants."

Anko blinked. Then, she slowly looked down at herself. Sure enough, she wasn't wearing any pants. Well, this was awkward. Anko slowly raised her gaze back to the Inuzuka lad. "I'm going to let go of you, and then I'm going to go back inside. When I do, you're going to turn around and go back to Kurenai and tell her I'm fine. Alright?"

The man nodded. He was like a mouse facing down a cobra. "Got it."

Anko glared, a shadow passing over her face in the process. "And if I hear that you told anyone about this... I will kill you. Are we clear?"

"Perfectly."

"Good. Now get out of here." She released the Inuzuka man, took a step back, and slammed the door. Damn that was embarrassing. Even thought she was reasonably confident that she had intimidated the man into silence, she knew Kurenai would get the truth out of him somehow. She always had a way of finding things out. Anko didn't even know why she had sent a man like that to her.

She shook her head, trying to clear it as she wandered back over to her bed and unceremoniously fell into it. Ah her bed; it never got on her nerves or pissed her off. She breathed a heavy sigh, trying to keep her mind off the fact that she just had a reasonably attractive male at her door and she sent him off in was probably a confused and rather awkward state of mind. Well, there went another wasted opportunity.


	2. Chapter 2

Well that could have gone better.

Kiba Inuzuka wasn't exactly thrilled by the way his day was going. Not only had he been dragged out of his bed early to do things for his squad leader, he had ended up drawing the short straw when it came time to decide who among their teammates would check on their squad leader's friend.

"Won't be a big deal they said. It'll be really quick they said."

Next to Kiba, Akamaru whined in agreement. At least he had come along with him, even if he didn't help at all.

The two of them moved at a truly sluggish pace, mostly due to Kiba trying to figure out what he was going to say to Kurenai-sensei. He had all but sworn that he wouldn't say anything about what he had seen, but how could he not? How was he going to explain to Kurenai that everything was fine and that her friend wasn't dead or anything, but that she didn't seem to be all there?

Suddenly Akamaru barked a few times, to which Kiba could only roll his eyes in response. "Yeah, you're right Akamaru; she smelled like she hadn't bathed in a few days. What the hell are we going to tell Kurenai-sensei?"

Akamaru only responded by whining again and looking away.

"Well aren't you a great help." Kiba sighed deeply, this whole thing was a mess. Regardless of how he looked at the situation, he wasn't going to make it out of this alright. Either he could lie to Kurenai, or he could tell the truth and possibly be murdered by the crazy woman he just left.

This battle waged back and forth in his head, right up to the point where he knocked on the door to Kurenai's apartment. Kiba hadn't felt like this since his mother had caught him with the most recent Icha Icha novel.

Suddenly Kiba slapped himself. What was he, a little kid? He could handle this! He was a man! This was nothing compared to all of the problems he had faced in the past. If he could survive deadly ninja attacks and almost being mauled on a nightly basis when he had dinner with his mother, he could deal with this.

"Kiba!"

The sound of his squad leader's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Gah!"

The black haired Jounin laughed and took a step back, clearing the way so that Kiba and Akamaru could enter. "I'm guessing you were successful in making sure she was alright?"

Kiba sighed heavily and hung his head a bit, releasing all the pent up energy as he walked in. "Sure, I was successful... in a manner of speaking."

Kurenai shut the door behind him and akamaru, raising an eyebrow as she gauged his reaction. "Well, how long did you talk with her? Tell me about it." She moved past him and sat down on her couch, reclining slightly as she motioned for Kiba to sit across from her.

He tried as hard as he could to keep himself contained, so that he didn't start explaining all the things he thought and saw. He didn't have a death wish, and there were no doubts in his mind that that woman would carry out her threat. "Well, she's quite... animated."

Kurenai smirked slightly. "Well that's good to hear. So how did she seem to you?"

"She seemed fine. Nothing out of the ordinary. She was mostly confused as to why I had shown up." Smooth Kiba. Totally smooth.

A moment of silence passed between the two, breaking only slightly when Akamaru shifted in position next to Kiba. Then, Kurenai leaned forward slightly. "Kiba?"

"Yes?"

"How long have we known each other?"

"Five years I think?"

"And how well do we know each other?"

"Quite well."

"Right. So why are you trying to hide something from me?"

"Because I was told in no uncertain terms that if I didn't I'd be dead?"

Another moment of silence passed between them before Kurenai cracked a smile and began laughing. She leaned back again, rubbing her eyes with one of her hands as Kiba sat in silence. Was he missing a joke? Did he have something on his face? This didn't seem like a laughing matter to him..

Finally Kurenai composed herself. "Well, I'm glad Anko was at least sounded like herself. So what did you say that made her threaten you?"

"I didn't say anything! She was... uh..."

"Come on, we don't have all day Kiba. Just spit it out. I won't tell her if you're worried about that. Not that you have to worry about that; her bark is worse than her bite."

Kiba chuckled nervously. "Well she answered the door without pants on."

Kurenai would have done a spit-take had she been drinking something; either way he face instantly shifted to one of surprise and confusion. "She what?"

"She showed up at the door without any pants one. Took her like ten minutes to answer the door too. And she didn't smell like she had showered in the last day or so..." Well, he had already said the most embarrassing thing that he had to say. No harm in saying everything else right?

"Great, she's worse than I thought. I was afraid it was something like this..."

"Something like what exactly?"

Kurenai waved a hand in dismissal. "Don't worry about it; I just need to figure out what to do about it. Actually... Are you doing anything else today Kiba?"

"Not really. Why?"

"I have something I'd like to try..."


	3. Chapter 3

This was a terrible idea. No, it was worse than a terrible idea; it was an atrocious idea. One might even call it one of the worst ideas ever conceived by a person anywhere. At least, that's what Kiba thought as he walked back to the apartment that he had visited hours earlier.

Kiba kicked a rock in disgust, grunting as he did so. He would rather done anything else right now. He would have rather gone and pissed off his hot-tempered mother than do what he was doing now. Next to him, Akamaru mimicked his unhappiness by keeping his head close to the ground and dragging his feet.

To be honest, Kiba didn't understand why he was doing what he was doing. He looked over at the box on Akamaru's back, containing who knows what. He had considered opening it up to see what was inside, but Kurenai had given him specific instructions about it. The woman he had met earlier had to receive it, and he had to ensure that she actually opened it. Kiba didn't know why, nor did he know how he would do it. The entire situation stunk, and Kiba felt trapped in the middle. He had asked Kurenai why she couldn't do this herself, but she had only laughed and said that Kiba had the right tools for the job. She probably meant that he was a good stand in for when the woman stabbed him through the eye.

Suddenly Kiba walked right into something, shaking him out of his thoughts. He really needed to stop zoning out like that. He had been so out of it lately come to think of it. Perhaps he just needed a day off or something. Just some time to get back to being the excitable and bombastic Kiba that everyone was used to.

Then he realized that what he had run into was the woman's door. So much for being able to compose himself before she answered. Then again, she had taken upwards of ten minutes last time, so he probably had a bit of leeway with this. Kiba took a deep breath, mustered up his courage, and knocked on the door.

And then nothing happened. Kiba almost took a pratfall from annoyance. Nothing Kurenai could give him was worth this annoyance. And then, just as he was about to turn and leave, the door opened and revealed the woman from before. She even had pants this time, for which Kiba was thankful.

The woman looked Kiba up and down with a sour expression, he eyes scanning him like she was looking for the best place to stab him. Eventually her eyes drifted over to the box sitting on Akamaru and her sour expression became one of suspicion. She turned back to Kiba, looking him dead in the eye like she was sizing him up. It was like when he used to have staring contests with the dogs back at home to determine dominance.

"What are you doing here?" The woman placed a hand on her hip while her other hand remained out of view. For all Kiba knew, she could be grasping a weapon with which she was planning to stab him with.

"Kurenai told me to bring this box to you. Said you had to open it in front of me to insure that you actually did."

Suddenly she seemed to crack a wry smile, showing the faintest hint of amusement. "So she made you her errand boy?"

"Hey! It's not like I wanted to come back and see you." Immediately after the words left his mouth, Kiba regretted them. He was totally going to die. This woman, who already threatened to kill him earlier that day, didn't need to be provoked to carry out that threat.

But strangely enough, the woman only let out a heavy sigh and stepped out of the way of the entrance. "Alright, come on in. Let's get this over with."

Kiba blinked, and exchanged a glance with Akamaru. Was this wise? Probably not, but he didn't feel like trying the woman's patience after his last words. It was like dealing with his mother all over again. Why did he keep running into headstrong and violent women?

The inside of the apartment looked worse than Kiba had imagined. Dishes sat in the sink, completely unwashed but without the scent of food. Mail, seemingly from the past week, lay unopened and scattered on the table in the main room. It wasn't a dump; it seemed more like a place that was well kept in the earliest stages of disrepair. Even the scent confused him; the place didn't stink, it just seemed stale. The kind of scent you get when you enter a room that hasn't had any airflow recently.

"You can quit judging me."

Kiba turned to see the woman leaning against the closed door, looking none too happy. Now, Kiba got a better look at her. A mesh garb covered her from her shoulders to her thighs over a bra and under a pair of shorts. Her hair was messy and unkempt, but not dirty. It seemed more like bed head than anything else. There was the slightest of dark circles under her eyes, like she hadn't slept recently or was simply fatigued. All in all, it was a bizarre sight for someone who was otherwise completely fit.

"I wasn't judging you."

The woman snorted and pushed herself off the door, moving forward to take the package off of Akamaru. "Give it a rest. I know those looks you've been throwing around the room. The only reason you're back here is because Kurenai was probably worried about me. And if I had to guess, you told her about what happened."

Kiba swallowed hard. "It was an accident I swear!"

She gave him an neutral look, like she was hearing what she already knew. "I knew you'd talk. The Inuzuka are passionate and dependable, but they don't keep their mouths shut."

Kiba folded his arms and looked away. Man this woman was a pain. "Well sorry, I wasn't aware I wasn't supposed to let her know about how you seemed when she asked me. Not like I can lie to her."

"I wouldn't expect you to." The woman placed the box on the table before pulling up a chair and sitting down. "I'm Anko by the way. Anko Mitarashi."

"Kiba Inuzuka." Hesitantly, he pulled up a seat across from Anko, while Akamaru laid down next to him. "And this is Akamaru."

Anko nodded before sighing deeply and turning her attention to the box. At first, it appeared she would gingerly open it, but then at the last second she grabbed the lid and threw it over her shoulder. She leaned forward, gazing into the box.

At this point, Kiba got a sight on something he had missed before; some kind of strange mark on the base of her neck. At first he thought it was part of the mesh; now he could see it was part of her. It was definitely not a birthmark, but he wasn't going to bring it up to her right now.

Suddenly Anko roared in anger and frustration, flipping the entire table on top of Kiba before he could even react to it. He had taken worse hits, but it hurt nonetheless.

"Gah! Hey what's the big deal?"

Anko pointed an accusing finger at Kiba, her eyes enflamed with passionate anger. "You! You knew about this didn't you? This was your idea wasn't it?"

"What? What on earth are you talking about? Are you out of your mind?" He didn't really need to ask that last question, he knew the answer already.

The crazed woman quickly reached down and grabbed Kiba's jacket, yanking him out from under the table and into the air. She pulled him closer to her, to the point where their headbands were touching. "Explain. Your. Self." Her words were as harsh as ice, and bore the weight of an impending death threat.

Enough was enough. Kiba refused to back down any more from this clearly insane woman. "I have no idea what you're talking about you crazy hag! Kurenai told me to take the box to you and that I wasn't supposed to open it. Then she said to make sure you did while I was here! That's all!"

For a moment the woman tensed up, and Kiba braced for the impact of the woman's fist. But it never came. Instead, all the passion died out of her eyes, and she dropped Kiba to the floor. Anko visibly slumped, and once again Kiba saw the look of someone who was completely worn out.

Then, she mumbled some words in a tone that took Kiba by surprise. "I'm going back to bed." Slowly, Anko turned and walked back to what Kiba assumed was her room, and slowly shut the door behind her, leaving Kiba alone in the kitchen.

Something about her sudden shift in tone and appearance confused him. She seemed almost sad and world-weary; it was a complete one-eighty from her previously passionate demeanor. Slowly he pulled himself off the ground and made his way over to the upturned box. He cautiously reached inside it, trying to figure out what it was.

The only thing that it contained was a piece of paper in Kurenai's handwriting. After a moment, he dropped the paper to the floor in shock. It read:

"Dear Anko, it seems that you could use some help. But because I'm a bit busy at the moment, I'm going to have Kiba stay with you to keep an eye on you. And before you think about throwing him out, I'll check back up on you in a month or so when I'm back from my mission. Don't even think about getting rid of him; I don't want my frustration with how you treat yourself to turn into anger. Anyway, I'll see you in a month! Don't treat Kiba too bad; he may not be the brightest, but I think he'll be exactly what you need to get you out of this slump. -Kurenai."


	4. Chapter 4

The sun poured through the window in Anko's room, forcing her out of her slumber. It felt like all she did lately was sleep; it didn't help that she didn't feel like doing anything else. She could just lie here for the rest of her life for all she cared.

Suddenly she bolted upright and looked around her room. She hadn't opened her blinds before going to sleep. Someone had been in here while she was asleep. She jumped out of bed and threw open the door to her bedroom. She gazed out at her apartment with her still bleary eyes.

What she saw shocked her. Anko tried rubbing her eyes, assuming that her eyes was just deceiving her. The main room and kitchen area looked completely different than how she had left it. The place was clean and organized; the table was no longer on the floor and everything looked neat.

Under the table lay the large dog that belonged to the Inuzuka. It starred at her before grunting at his owner. The man leaned over the counter from the kitchen, staring at Anko in the same manner that the dog did. She had to admit that he was a bit too much like his dog, even by Inuzuka standards.

"Oh good, you're awake. I'm making breakfast. Go ahead and shower; the food will be ready by the time you're done."

Anko's eye twitched. The nerve of this guy! He was in her home, going through her things, and now he was telling her what to do! This was going to be remedied right now. She trudged up to him, eyes enflamed in fury. "And just what do you think you're doing?"

Kiba didn't even bother to turn and look at her, he just kept making breakfast. Strangely enough, it seemed like eggs and beef, neither of which Anko had kept in her home. "I'm making breakfast for us."

"Us? What us? You're in my home! You went through my belongings!"

"I cleaned up your home, since you left it in such shambles. Also, you were almost out of food so I went shopping this morning. Are you going to shower or not? You smell like you haven't bathed in days..."

The nerve of this guy! "Now you listen to me; this is my home and I'm not going to let you start telling me what to do!"

Kiba finally stopped and looked at Anko. "Look. Kurenai assigned me to make sure things get back into order. It's not like you're taking care of yourself. So, when you start taking care of yourself, I'll stop telling you what to do. Have you even smelled yourself lately?" He seemed genuinely annoyed, but then again, so was she.

Anko was just about to respond, but then she decided to sniff herself. Immediately she recoiled; how could she have not noticed this? She was never this unobservant. Still, she couldn't let Kiba think he had won. "This isn't over."

Before he could answer she turned and moved into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her. She didn't think he'd be daring enough to barge in on her, but she wasn't planning on taking any chances.

Slowly she removed her clothes and turned on the water, just letting it fall upon her as she stood under it. She let out a deep sigh, the feelings she was trying to avoid coming on strong. She leaned forward and placed her forehead against the shower wall, closing her eyes and just trying to relax. What on earth was Kurenai thinking? Anko wasn't someone who couldn't take care of herself. She always had before, and that wasn't going to change. It was bad enough that Kurenai probably thought she was incapable of doing anything on her own right now; now she had to deal with her student and his desire to fulfill her wishes. All she wanted was to be alone. There was nothing wrong with that.

Eventually Anko finished her shower, and looked herself over in the mirror. The woman who stared back at her was a shadow of the woman who everyone knew her as. She looked tired and worn down instead of being the bombastic and passionate kunoichi that Anko normally was.

By the time she left the bathroom, Kiba was already eating and a plate was set out for her. The man and his dog both regarded her with an expression that made it look like they were expecting something. Anko wasn't sure what that might be; she had already showered and was at least clothed this time.

The two of them ate in silence, Anko occasionally looking up at Kiba to see if he was watching her. Surprisingly enough, he seemed completely disinterested in her; his food consumed all of his attention. When he finished, he grabbed his plate and began cleaning up the dishes without saying a word to her.

The silence ate away at her; her slammed her fist down on the table, glowering at it to avoid the urge to attack him and force him out of her home. "Enough!"

Behind her, Kiba sighed. He walked back over to the table, sat down at his chair, and leaned back. He was just looking at her with that unamused and unimpressed expression. He didn't say anything. He just stared at her.

"What? What do you want?" Anko was almost screaming at him without even meaning to; this whole situation was awful. Why couldn't everyone just leave her alone?

"I want to figure out what's bothering you so I can help you get past this."

"There's nothing to get past! I'm fine! Why do you even care! What goes on in my life is none of your business."

"Kurenai-sensei cares. That's good enough for me. Besides, you're not fine. From what it looks like, you're coming apart at the seams. How long have you been holed up in here anyway?"

"None of your business." Anko frowned and him and folded her arms over her chest. This guy was annoying.

Kiba sighed and leaned forward over the table. "Listen. You can sit here and say that you're fine and that you don't need any help, but I know when something isn't right. Your home was a mess, you answered the door without any pants on, you look exhausted, and you hadn't bathed for days. I'm not going to ask you to tell me all about it, but I do think it's time to admit you have a problem that needs to be addressed."

"I already told you, I don't have a problem."

"Which explains why you seem so worn down and unhappy." The clear sarcastic tone was grating on Anko's nerves. She just wanted to slug him one, prove that she was fine.

But then her anger subsided. Who was she really trying to prove that to? Did she even believe it herself? It was certainly getting harder and harder to convince herself she was alright. Right now, she needed to think. Anko stood up, and began making her way towards her bedroom.

Before she could get there though, two strong wrapped themselves around her shoulders. For the briefest of moments, she considered resisting them. But she just stood there in silence. Minutes went by in silence, and neither of them moved.

Finally, Anko simply couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't keep lying to herself like this, trying to pretend that things were fine when they weren't. Her body shook before she simply collapsed to the ground with tears forming in her eyes. She felt even worse that she was acting so weak around anyone. She had never needed anyone before, so why was she doing this?

Kiba got down with her and moved to pull her head into his chest. Something about this made Anko feeling slightly better, but she couldn't help but let tears fall. She wasn't even really crying; tears were just falling while she shook slightly in his arms on the floor of her home. She felt his dog move to the other side of her, forming a sort of circle around her. In some strange way it made her better, and on another level it made her feel worse. But Anko was in no position to do anything about it right now. Maybe he had been right. Maybe she did need to face facts.

For the moment at least, she had someone who seemed willing to help her through it.


	5. Chapter 5

He didn't know why he had done it, but he had.

It was all he could think of doing. He couldn't let Anko wander back into her room and let the cycle continue. Something had to interrupt it and force it to change. Kiba wasn't sure if it was a good idea to put himself out in this situation; what if he failed? What if he made himself the force behind the change but wasn't able to follow through with it?

He sat there with her, holding her for what felt like hours. Then, she stirred and pushed herself out of Kiba's grasp. "Alright, enough of that."

"What?"

She looked over him, her eyes a bit read, but otherwise alright. "Enough crying, enough feeling sorry for myself. It's time to get back to how things were." She walked over to the door, leaving Kiba on the floor looking confused. "You coming?"

Kiba blinked, barely containing his shock. "Coming where?"

"Out! Come on, we have training to do!" She then marched up to him and grabbed Kiba's jacket before dragging him out the door with akamaru following confusedly behind them.

It didn't get much better as Anko dragged him across the village. Every time he struggled for her to release him, she only held on tighter. Eventually, she released him somewhere near the edge of town, in part of the forest.

"Gah! What is your problem?"

"You would have taken too long by questioning what I was doing. This was simpler. Now... Think fast!"

In the blink of an eye Anko was already released a kunai, barely missing Kiba as he tried to dodge it. By the time he looked back, Anko had vanished from view, making him quite nervous. Had he done something wrong earlier? Was she planning on killing him and erasing the evidence?

Kiba's senses sharpened as Akamaru moved to his side. The two of them took off into the trees, trying to sniff out wherever Anko was hiding. If she was going to try and kill him, he wasn't going to go quietly. Besides, he loved a good fight.

It didn't take long to get a hold of her scent; he had been familiarized to it for a number of hours now after all. He honed it on it, bounding over trees in pursuit of his quarry. Then, after leaping over a particularly large branch he saw her standing casually on a branch, as if she was waiting for him.

He dove forward, planning on tackling her so that he could go on the offensive. But before he could do that, snakes appeared out of the wood beneath him, forcing him to twist in mid air to avoid their probably venomous bites. He wouldn't put it past Anko to poison him without warning based on how she was acting.

He felt her feet on his back before he had time to react again; in an instant she kicked him down towards the ground with enough force to cause him to spin head over heels as he descended. Finally, Kiba decided enough was enough. Focusing his chakra to his hands and feet, he softened the impact of his fall. Then, he jumped back up into the trees, knowing that akamaru was already waiting for his signal. The two of them were like a well-oiled machine; they knew each other's patterns so well that they could function separately in combat if they needed to and still perform as a team.

Once again the scenario played out between Kiba and Anko; he was coming down from above while she stood casually below. This time however, he was ready for her. "Gatsūga!_"_

Instantly he began spinning rapidly, creating a drill with his body. Anko dodged his attack by jumping out of the way, but he had expected that. While his technique drilled through the wood and deprived Anko of a place to stand, the reason as to why he had yelled the technique was revealed. It wasn't him being brash, it was a command.

Akamaru dove from cover, using the same technique as Kiba. The high speed drill was too quick for Anko to completely dodge in mid-air, causing Akamaru's claws to shred Anko's coat as she attempted to dodge. Then, as she fell. Kiba rebounded off of the ground and moved upward, hitting her dead on. He had her off balance and he was going to take advantage of it.

As his claws cut at her, he noticed something seemed off. She was no longer trying to avoid him. Instead, she took a deep breath before spewing fire from her mouth. For a moment, Kiba became a flaming whirlwind, while Anko used her technique to get her out of the way of Kiba's claws.

While the moving air created by the gatsuga had insured that he wasn't burned, he had once again lost sight of Anko. Not to mention the smell of burning wood obscured her scent from his sense of smell. He ceased spinning, dropping down on a branch to get his bearings and try to find Anko again. Now that she had outmaneuvered him, he was back on the defensive.

Suddenly the wood exploded all around him, forcing him to try and dodge out of the way. What he initially assumed to be explosives were actually hundreds of snakes that proceeded to try and entangle him with their long bodies. He clawed and bit at them, trying to figure out a way to get himself free.

Then, laughter hit his ears. Anko sat down on top of one of the snake's bodies, looking down at him. "Well, that was fun! Haven't got a good work out like that in a long time."

"Work out? You could have killed me! I almost killed you!"

Anko laughed again and gave Kiba that smile that reminded him of Naruto. That confident grin that never seemed to admit that things were wrong. "Yeah, you owe me a new jacket for that. Still, you almost had me beat, until you played your hand by using Akamaru. You're pretty strong for a chunnin you know."

Kiba blinked. Man this woman was weird. "Uh, thanks."

Anko sighed and leaned back slightly to look at the sky while Akamaru hoped up to Kiba's entangled body to lick his face. For a bit there was nothing but silence, then Anko looked over at Kiba. "Thanks. For holding me back there."

"Uh, no problem. You looked like you needed it."

"That I did... Oh! I should probably let you go."

"You think?" Kiba accidentally put more anger in his question then he had meant to; he knew he should watch his temper.

Anko only frowned before letting a playful smile appear on her lips. "Alright, down you go." The snake's bodies relaxed, causing Kiba to yell as he plummeted downward.

Finally, after twenty minutes of Kiba grumbling about how she almost killed him with that stunt, the two of them made it back to the edge of the forest. He sighed, not really sure how to handle all this. First she was angry, then upset, then violent, then happy... this woman had to be insane. There was no way she couldn't be.

"Alright then! Meet me back at my house at seven."

"Wait, what?" Kiba looked flabbergasted. Had he missed something? He sure felt like he had.

"Did I stutter? We're going out for dinner and drinks tonight. You're treat of course." She winked at him, before taking off before he could respond.

Kiba could only stand there completely dumbfounded. What had he gotten himself into?


	6. Chapter 6

It had been a bizarre few hours for Kiba. Neither the walk home, nor the hot water of a shower managed to shake him out of the stupor he had been in since he had parted ways with Anko. The snake-like woman had been acting quite strange thus far, and he could only imagine that by the end of the night he would see yet another facet of her personality. What had Kurenai been thinking?

Maybe she thought Kiba would be able to keep up with Anko. Thus far he had managed to do so, but he wasn't sure his nerves could take it. He leaned forward and rested his head on the shower wall, just letting the water hit his back. Kiba could take a lot; he prided himself on how tough he was. But the emotional whiplash he had experienced over the past few days was just becoming too much to deal with. It wasn't that he was somehow beaten by this; it was just difficult for him to work up the will to go through with another night with this woman. He didn't think he deserved it.

And yet, he couldn't bring himself to abandon Anko after last night. Like it or not, he had put himself out there and been there for her, which meant he was committed. Even though he didn't like it, he wasn't much of a man if he let her down in her time of need. Right now, she seemed like she needed a friend by her. He could suck it up and help her out. It was only right.

Kiba took his time getting dressed, drawing out the extra time like he was back in the academy trying to avoid going to class. He patted Akamaru on the head before heading out; tonight he would be on his own. The trek to Anko's home was all the more lonely because of it. In hindsight he probably should have dressed in something other than what he usually wore. But he wasn't really sure what was going to happen tonight, but he wasn't going to get dressed up for nothing. It just wasn't his style.

Yet as Kiba knocked on the door, he couldn't help but acknowledge that there was a small part of him that liked seeing Anko happy. It was probably for the same reason he liked seeing anyone else happy, but he couldn't rule out that it might be because he was glad to see her being cheerful after her breakdown the day before. He didn't know much about Anko, but he did know that no one should look like she did the day before.

Suddenly the door before him opened, breaking Kiba out of his thoughts. He had to stop getting lost in them before something took him by surprise. Like a stunningly beautiful woman suddenly revealing herself to him.

Stunning was definitely the word that described Anko at the moment. Her body was clad in a crimson red asian-style dress that accentuated her curves perfectly. Kiba was dumbstruck; the tomboy woman who had been flipping tables the day before and kicking the crap out of him hours earlier was now the epitome of sensual and reserved beauty. She was not overly flaunting herself; she looked more like she was a regal dignitary. It was stunning to him; if he was going to expect something from Anko, he would have expected something over the top and revealing.

She leaned forward raising a curious eyebrow. "Whatcha looking at?"

Kiba jumped back a bit. "Gah! Nothing!"

Anko put on a fake pout. "Aw. I thought you'd have something to say about how I looked."

"I do!" How had he suddenly been taking off guard so easily? "You look great!"

She raised an eyebrow and got close to his face, which was turning redder by the moment. "Well what exactly do you like?"

"I... uh... well..." Of all the times for his mind to go blank, it had to be now. But he was out of time! He had to say something! "I really like how it shows off your hips!"

Anko blinked. "Well, at least you're honest!" She leaned back away from his face, a small smile appearing on her face. She suddenly wrapped her arm around Kiba's and began pulling him off towards town. She seemed happy enough, even if Kiba was completely off his game! Where was his killer instinct?

And then Anko pulled Kiba closer and nuzzled him once, putting him even more on edge. He wasn't a stranger to affection, but he barely knew her! She had to be messing with him! She simply had to be. At the very least, he didn't reciprocate it!

"Er... what are you doing?" He even sounded awkward as his mouth tried to find the words to address this situation.

She looked over at him with quizzical eyes, seemingly oblivious to Kiba's discomfort. "What? I thought that's what dogs did to show affection."

"It is, but we're not dogs."

"No, but you're an Inuzuka, which is the next closest thing."

"Look, just because we're close to dogs, doesn't make us like them."

For the next few minutes, the two of them walked in silence, neither one of them seemingly wanting to say anything for fear that it would only compound the awkwardness. At least, that's why Kiba wasn't saying anything. He could only assume that that's why Anko wasn't saying anything either.

Kiba looked around as Anko led him around the arm; he noticed immediately that they were in the night market. The scent of street food filled the air as they moved through the crowds of people in the plaza. He absent-mindedly put a hand to a stomach as he tried to sort through each of the individual scents. There were benefits to having a strong sense of smell after all.

Eventually, he found himself being drawn over to a cart that smelled strongly of dumplings and sugar. He knew Anko had a sweet tooth, but he didn't really think this was exactly good for dinner.

Yet Anko's expression immediately changed as she surveyed the wares. She almost had a collector's eye with how she was viewing the food; did she eat here often?

"Alright!" Her demeanor suddenly returned back to how it had been in the blink of an eye. "One of everything please!"

Kiba's heart sank. How was he going to pay for all that? Now it made sense as to why Anko said that he was buying! He was about to say something about it, but then he looked over at her sparkling eyes. He cursed under his breath; he couldn't say no to that face.

It wasn't long before Kiba found himself at a table, watching Anko put down a truly staggering amount of dango. Not that he didn't put down some himself; but it was small potatoes compared to her. It was almost a blessing that he didn't bring Akamaru along; his wallet was hurting enough as it was. He placed his elbows on the table and his face in his hands. He knew this was a bad idea.

The feeling of an arm around him caused Kiba to look up. Just as he was going to open his mouth to say something, Anko placed some dango in his mouth. Deciding to skip the arguing and just go along with it, he bit it right off the stick and turned back to the table. Why couldn't he just leave? Was he really going to torture himself like this all night.

Anko's hand lightly turned his chin towards her, a small smile on her face. "Ready to go home?"

Kiba repressed a groan. "If you'd like."

"Great!" She pulled him up by his arm and began dragging him back towards her home. Of course she was cheery; he bought her dinner and she was able to drag him around. If he hadn't been trying to make her happy, he probably wouldn't have even been there.

By the time they made it back to Anko's place, the streets were almost deserted. She stopped right in front of her door, and turned around to face him. She draped her arms around him and pulled him close. "Listen... I know you didn't want to spend time with me. I know it probably wasn't easy. But... I really appreciate it."

Kiba felt himself blushing again. He couldn't tell if she was coming onto him or if she was just having fun with him by getting him riled up. Still, some part of it was totally happy this was happening. And something inside him, a little voice, told him it could only get better. He could learn to live with this right? She wasn't too bad when she was happy... even if she was dangerous.

Then his train of thought was completely derailed by her lips suddenly meeting his. For a few moments, the two of them remained locked in the kiss, not wanting to break it off. After what felt like an eternity, they finally broke it off, but never stopped looking into each other's eyes.

"So... can I stay the night?"

Anko didn't even need to answer verbally. She just opened the door to her apartment and pulled him inside.

Maybe, just maybe, Kurenai had made Kiba's better by making him do this.


End file.
